Chapter 336: A Man Blessed with Both Fate and Fortune!

The video continued playing.

By the time Aurelia and Lorelei walked out of the Sun, Moon & Stars Resort Shopping Center, the sky had turned the color of orange soda.

"Aurelia, are you sure you don’t want to stay here tonight?"

Lorelei took a sip of coconut milk jelly.

"The luxury suites on the top floor can be upgraded to a presidential suite for free with your sister’s access privileges."

"It even comes with a private spa and unlimited late-night desserts."

"I’m traveling to train, not to go on vacation."

Aurelia tightened the straps of her backpack.

"Besides, it’s still only afternoon. We can keep walking for a while."

"Sigh, fine."

Lorelei glanced regretfully back at the mall.

"Where are you planning to go next?"

"Hmm..."

"I’ll head to the nearest city, Celadon City, first."

"After that, I want to make a circuit around Kanto."

"Perfect."

Lorelei lightly shook the coconut milk jelly in her hand.

"I have half a month of vacation coming up."

"I’ll travel with you for a while."

"But..."

"Don’t overthink it."

Lorelei pushed up her glasses.

"I’ve known your dad for years."

"Looking after his daughter for a few days isn’t a big deal."

Aurelia didn’t say anything else.

She merely gave a soft: "Mm."

The two followed the mountain road south.

After walking for roughly forty minutes, the silhouette of Celadon City appeared ahead.

And then—

Aurelia immediately spotted an enormous billboard.

WELCOME TO THE SUN-MOON GROUP’S MODEL DISTRICT FOR A BETTER LIFE · CELADON CITY

A small speaker had even been installed beside it, continuously playing a welcome message personally recorded by Selene:

"Everyone in Celadon City, stay full of energy today too!"

"New Sun-Moon products every day!"

"Ciallo~ (∠?ω＜ )⌒★"

Aurelia turned toward Lorelei.

"When did Celadon City... become like this?"

"Probably last year."

Lorelei opened a webpage.

"Selene signed a partnership agreement with Erika and incorporated the entire city into the Sun-Moon Group’s Urban Renewal Program."

"The League calls the process ’Sun-Moonization.’"

"At this point, aside from Saffron City, every major city has already undergone Sun-Moonization."

Aurelia fell silent.

She was beginning to seriously suspect that Selene had deliberately left Saffron City untouched—

Just so Aurelia could experience the shock of walking from a "normal city" into a fully "Sun-Moonized" one.

The two continued forward.

Nearly every shop had a Sun-Moon Group logo somewhere on it.

Even the pedestrian-crossing sound at traffic lights had been replaced with:

"Ciallo~ (∠?ω＜ )⌒★"

Every time the light turned green, pedestrians across the entire street would respond with an oddly enthusiastic cheer.

It was terrifying.

Even more terrifyingly the Pokémon had been Sun-Moonized too.

A Pidgey perched on a roadside branch actually had a small wooden plaque hanging from its chest.

It read: Sun-Moon Group Certified · Urban Eco-Friendly Pokémon · No. 0137

The moment it spotted Aurelia—

Its eyes lit up.

It immediately flew over and gave her a wink.

Aurelia: "..."

[VIP Chat Group]

[Valerie]: The Sun-Moon Group can already contract and remodel an entire city? Isn’t the expansion speed of this business empire getting a little ridiculous?

[Viola]: Commercially remodeling a whole city is already one thing, but now even the wild Pokémon know how to wink?!

[Clair]: Please stop talking. I’m already starting to worry about whether Indigo Plateau has fallen too.

[Bruno]: Hahaha! I’d actually like to see that. Maybe Lance’s Champion cape already has the Sun-Moon Group logo embroidered on it.

[Lance]: ... If there’s nothing else, I’m going to a meeting.

[Shauntal]: So wherever Aurelia goes on this journey, she’s surrounded by her own family’s businesses. Now that’s the true meaning of "the whole world is my home."

[Skyla]: What I’m more concerned about is whether the Pokémon Centers have been Sun-Moonized too. If every Nurse Joy has to wink at every Trainer, then this world really is beyond saving.

[Brock]: That would be paradise... Numb... I’m going numb... (Poison Jab lands directly in his side.)

The video on the giant screen continued playing.

The scene shifted to the Hoenn region.

Rustboro City.

On the rooftop helipad of Devon Corporation’s headquarters, a silver-white private jet bearing an enormous Sun-Moon Group logo slowly descended.

The cabin door wasn’t even fully open yet and Selene was already leaning halfway outside.

A pair of sunglasses sat atop her head.

A lollipop hung from her mouth.

Her silver-white curls whipped wildly in the wind.

"UNCLE STEVEN!"

"I’M HERE TO PAY YOUR DIVIDENDS!!!"

On the helipad Steven’s eyes lit up.

"Niece Selene!"

"I’ve been waiting so long for you that I’ve polished three stones smooth!"

Selene jumped out of the aircraft.

With a flash of teleportation, she appeared directly in front of Steven.

Then she pulled a neatly printed financial statement from her pocket and slapped it against his chest.

"Here."

"These are your dividend details for this quarter."

"Take a look."

Steven accepted the report and skimmed through it.

His mouth slowly formed a perfect "O."

"Millions..."

"Tens of millions..."

"Hundreds of millions?!"

"ONE BILLION?!"

"Yep."

Selene started counting on her fingers.

"Let’s see... Your original three-hundred-million investment is currently valued at about..."

"Hmm..."

"Maybe thirty or forty times what it was worth before?"

"Uncle Steven, don’t look so shocked!"

"That’s only the conservative estimate."

"Niece Selene."

Steven pressed the report against his chest.

"Do you know how I feel right now?"

"I feel like a man personally chosen by the Arceus."

"Investing those three hundred million in you may have been the single best decision I’ve made since the day I was born."

Selene pulled another lollipop from her pocket and accurately tossed it into her mouth.

"Uncle Steven, wasn’t the best decision you’ve ever made meeting my dad?"

"That’s different."

Steven brushed back his hair.

"Meeting your dad was fate."

"Investing in you was fortune."

"I, Steven Stone, am a man blessed with both fate and fortune!"

Selene pulled another document from her pocket.

"Perfect."

"I happen to have a new project I’d like to discuss with you."

"What project?"

"Tell me!"

Selene brought up a three-dimensional design on her tablet.

A translucent holographic model appeared in midair.

It depicted an enormous amusement park floating above the clouds.

At its center hovered a gigantic model of the moon.

Surrounding it were twelve separate interstellar-themed zones.

"The Sun-Moon Group’s annual flagship project—The Cosmic-Class Immersive Psychic Experience Park!"

Steven studied the hologram and rubbed his chin.

"Looks pretty good."

"How much are you planning to invest initially?"

"Total investment—fifty billion League Coins."

Selene smiled brightly.

"How much would you like to invest, Uncle Steven?"

Steven cleared his throat twice.

"Ahem, ahem..."

"Niece Selene, you know I’ve been developing some new mineral deposits lately."

"My cash flow is a little tight right now."

"So this time I’ll start with..."

"Five hundred million?"

Selene immediately closed her tablet.

"All right."

"The prize for the biggest investor this round is a life-sized Diancie standee."

"But since Uncle Steven is investing so little, I guess I’ll have to look for someone else."

"I’M INVESTING!"

"I’LL ADD ANOTHER FIVE BILLION!"

Steven immediately pulled out another black card.

"Uncle Steven, your faith in me is truly moving."

Selene somehow produced yet another sheet of paper.

"Here. This is your projected investment-return report."

Steven waved it away without even looking.

"I don’t need that."

"Just tell me when the Diancie standee gets delivered."

...

TL: Sorry, guys—I took a short break. I totally forgot it was my birthday ????(•? ? <).